American Paintworks

As we moved into town and bought a house, we wanted to get the interior completely painted. We got a few painters and contractors to come over and give us estimates. After about 5 of them, we decided to go with American Paintoworks as we like the owner’s professionalism and estimate. He was not the cheapest but he offered a very detailed estimate, and a list of the work that will be done room by room. So we decided to hire him.
The work consisted to paint all of the rooms. In addition, remove certain wallpapers and repaint. As per suggestion of American Paintowrk’s owner, we also decided to have the ceiling in the master bedroom raised to the attic level and add a skylight.
At the beginning, all was going well. About 4 to 5 Hispanic workers will come every day. But after about 3 weeks into the job, things started to go downhill…
First, we understand that everyone needs to get paid. A contract needs to be written by both, the contractor and the client, specifying when the contractor will get paid based on phases of completion of the job. This did not happen to us and every few days we were asked for money to continue with the job and buy supplies. However, we did learn from other people who deal with contractors, that an indication of their «line of credit» is that they don’t keep asking for money to get supplies and buy things. Yes, a payment plan can be scheduled after certain parts of the total job are completed and that’s the way the contractor gets paid; and never pay in advance.
Then, after a few weeks and according to one of the supervisors, 3 out of the 4 painters working in the house, had to be «fired» because they were showing up ‘drunk’ to work. These workers were never replaced and what should have taken a few weeks, became a couple of months. I did find out that American Paintworks stared work in another location… hum…
Because there were not enough workers, the job became sloppy and attention to detailed started going down the toilet… wood window and door frames started getting paint in them (now we have to work in getting them stained) and splashes of paint started to fall in the floor, sink and other areas (we still cleaning them up!).
Finally, American Paintwork kept leaving trash in the sidewalk and the town trash services were not taking them. I did call American Paintwork owner back and he kept telling me that the town trash should pick all of their trash up. However, I had a town supervisor come by the house. He gave me a copy of the town’s regulations and it clearly states that all contractors must dispose of their trash at their expense. I ended up having to hire a trash container from a private company to get rid of all the trash at the tune of $ 400!
Needless to say, I do not recommend them and I would not use them again.